Even In Death
by momoxtoshiro
Summary: Maka is hurt badly in battle and Soul needs to stay with her. 'Now Soul knew how she felt; sometimes being the friend of the one who was hurt was worse than actually being the one who was hurt'. SoulxMaka fluff!


**My first Soul Eater fanfic! I watched the whole series in 4 days and absolutely loved it, so here is the result of my obsessive-ness. There may be a bit of OOC-ness, but its ALL fluff, so fellow SoulxMaka fans, please enjoy!!  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater :[ If I did this would be in the series, not on FanFiction lol.**

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Even In Death

The pavement of Death City was spattered in scarlet as though someone had dropped buckets of paint from atop a building.

A feral, human-like monster snarled its last ounce of defiance before it was slashed open, leaving its glowing red soul out in the open. Maka managed to land on both feet after the humungous jump she had just ended its life with; but she was in poor condition.

Blood drenched her torso from a deep wound in her side as well as one from her shoulder. Her legs were shaking and she leaned on her scythe for support. She panted for a few moments, thinking that feeling the air flow through her lungs would get her some strength back, but it only made her feel worse and worse with every breath.

"Oi, Maka!" Soul shouted. "You shouldn't have been so reckless! Heading for him straight-on may have been the fastest way, but you should've known he'd hit you with something!" In the pale moonlight, she could just barely make out his annoyed, yet concerned expression reflected on the blade.

"G…Gomen, Soul." She attempted to say more, but her body was trembling all over now and her knees gave as she stumbled. Soul transformed back into his human state, reached out and caught her before she hit the ground.

"You're so un-cool, idiot." He mumbled. But her eyes were closed and she did not hear him. "Damn it." He growled under his breath as he felt her warm, sticky blood seep onto his shirt. Gently, he laid her down on the ground briefly in order to swallow the glowing ball of red that marked their 44th soul since they were forced to restart their hunting. "Bastard." He spat as he finished his meal, cursing it for what it had done to his friend.

Making his way back to his hardly-conscious partner, Soul knelt down beside her and finally began to see just how bad her condition was. Crimson was still spilling onto the already bloodied ground, and the girl was gasping painfully for breath. "Maka! Hang in there!" Soul called out to her, taking her in his arms. He supported her shoulders with one hand and pressed onto the wound in her side with the other, doing anything he could to stop or even just slow the bleeding. She flinched and gritted her teeth, holding back a scream of agony and instead choked out a weak yelp.

"Soul…" She rasped, keeping her eyes squeezed shut. "It hurts…"

"I know, just hang tough, okay?" Replied the white haired boy, hating to have to see that look of pain on her face.

"I'll…try…" her voice was trembling and cracked, and her body shuddered as she tried to suppress the throbbing in her head.

Keeping his hand in place, Soul looked up only to realize their surroundings, and that they were farther away from their home then he thought, and even farther away from Professor Stein's, which was where they needed to be _now_.

Soul felt the blood starting to slow down a bit, but his partner was still conscious and in great pain. Her chest was still heaving with gasps and a sweat had broken out across her forehead. Soul frowned and bit his lip with his shark-like teeth. He knew she needed medical treatment, but he also knew that carrying her all that way with still-bleeding wounds would be the death of her. So he waited what seemed like eons until the painful breathing and flowing blood had slowed.

He hated to think that Maka had fallen into unconsciousness wondering why he was just sitting there instead of getting her help.

He removed his hand from the injury on her side and moved it to the one on her opposite shoulder, over her heart. It had already stopped bleeding for the most part, but still looked dangerously deep.

Then, Soul proceeded to shift her weight onto his back and stood, holding her legs firmly as her arms hung limply across his shoulders. "Damn it, Maka. If you die on me, I'll kill you." He grumbled as he began walking. "This was only our 44th soul. We're not even halfway there yet!" He kept talking as though she could hear him.

With every step, he heard her breathing getting shallower and felt her pulse getting weaker, and he hastily quickened his pace as much as he dared to.

When he started to recognize the buildings around him, Soul stopped for a moment to shift the girl on his back into his arms and he carried her bridal style the rest of the way.

"Maka," He said out loud. "Stay strong."

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Soul looked down at his partner, lying limply on her soft, pink bed.

After Stein had forced them to stay the night, since she had been in critical condition, the Professor had reluctantly allowed them to return home the next morning.

The crimson-eyed boy pulled up a chair and sat and waited at her bedside, hating having to see her small, beaten form lying there like that. Marie, who had been frantic the entire night, had provided her with a change of clothes, being a long-sleeved shirt and pajama pants that were too big for her and only made Maka look even smaller.

The thing that worried him the most, however, was how still she was. The Maka that he had come to know was always so strong and fast and even hyper sometimes, and always threw herself into battle no matter what the circumstances or consequences.

And now, here she was, sleeping quietly and not moving at all. Throughout the morning, Soul had had to check several times that she was, in fact, still breathing.

Presently, he reached over and found her hand, covering it with his own before grasping it tightly. "Maka…" Professor Stein had not specified when she should wake up, and Soul had vowed not to leave her until she did, because no one wanted to wake up alone after nearly bleeding to death.

Her longish, hair had been released from its ties and was now a pool of pale blonde around her face, spreading across her pillow. With his other hand, Soul gently ran his rough fingers through her soft tresses.

Around noontime, he began to feel exhausted from staying up nearly the entire night, silently fretting about his best friend. Her shoulder and stomach had been thoroughly bandaged though he still knew they would hurt like Hell. Leaning forward, her hand still in his own, Soul carefully rested his head on her healed shoulder. He was almost surprised to hear the air passing through her lungs and the slow beating of her heart.

The muffled rhythm lulled him into a light sleep with her, their fingers still entwined…

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The cackling sun was failing to keep from snoring when Soul awoke again.

The coy little heartbeats filling his ears reminded him of what had happened.

Slowly lifting his head from her chest, the white haired boy gazed down at the blonde haired girl. He was disappointed that she had still not woken up, and a bit embarrassed that he had let himself fall asleep like that.

He then realized that the hand he held was cold and the pulse in her wrist was unusually quick. The cold sweat broke out on her forehead again as her quiet breathing suddenly became desperate panting.

"Maka?" Soul's eyes widened in shock and confusion. _She was fine just a minute ago!_ He thought.

Panic seized him as she whimpered in her sleep and he saw that look of pain on her face once again. Then he snorted in anger at himself for letting he suffer as long as he did. He shook her shoulders mindful of her wounds, but his voice was firm. "MAKA!" He shouted, as though demanding her to wake up and be okay.

At the sound of her name and his voice, Maka's alarmed olive-green eyes flew open and stared into crimson ones for a split second. Her breath was still ragged and crazy, and he knew she must have had a nightmare. This was the same as what had happened to him when he had been hurt, only now, their roles were reversed.

Now Soul knew how she felt; sometimes being the _friend_ of the one who was hurt was worse than actually _being_ the one who was hurt.

Maka blinked once, tears in the corners of her eyes and her chest quivering.

"S…Soul-" she tried to speak, but the air hitched in her throat and her body jerked as she hunched over, coughing hard.

"Maka!!" Soul held her in his arms, one hand squeezing both of hers tightly as the other patted her back. He knew that every time she coughed or moved or even breathed, it hurt her more and more because of her injuries.

Soul did his best to try and comfort her. "Maka, calm down! Calm down. Just breathe." He ran his hand over her hair and down her back, as Maka often did herself while stroking Blair as the purple cat slept.

It took him a moment to realize that she was crying, something he absolutely hated coming from her when it was not from happiness. He knew she must have had a bad nightmare, because Maka always put on a brave face, and to see her this way, in one of her rare, broken-down moments, Soul felt the need to protect her now more than ever.

He had not realized until just now that she had been repeating his name as she wept. Slowly, he smirked to himself and pulled her into a hug and she burst into tears now, not even attempting to hold back. She sobbed on his shoulder until he could feel the salty tears seep into his shirt, but he kept holding her. He had never seen her cry so much all at once, and he thought it was only fair for her to be able to let loose every once in a while. With everything she had been holding locked up inside up to this point…it must have felt good to let it all out.

"Soul…Soul…Soul…" She kept on saying his name between breaths, and every time she did he held her tighter.

"It's okay. Oi, Maka, can you hear me? It's okay. I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere either." He promised.

She sobbed for a little while longer until her body gave one massive shudder and she was reserved to hiccups. Soul rested his chin on top of her head and he stroked her hair smoothly until her breathing was so faint, he assumed she was asleep again. Gingerly, he laid her back down onto the bed and pulled the pink blankets over her shivering form, up to her shoulders. He leaned forward again, gently touching his forehead to hers. "It's okay, Maka. I'm still here. I'll always be here." He murmured.

Then he straightened back up again in his chair, resting one hand on her stomach. She sniffed once before her tired, teary eyes opened once again to gaze up at him.

"Soul, I-"

He did not let her finish.

"I know, it's okay."He repeated. "Just relax. Breathe. Get some rest."

"I…I can't believe you're here. That you...stayed with me." She whispered weakly, but the smile that blessed her face was the most wonderful thing he had seen all day.

"I'll always be here for you Maka," he promised as her eyes closed and she let out a sigh, the smile still on her face as well as his.

"Always." He repeated. "Even In Death."

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**A/N: Well? Whatcha think? Cute? Was it fluffy enough for you? I hope so, I worked hard! No flames please, but please let me know what you think!**

**Please review!!**


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